DEA CHIEF FACES PROTESTS AFTER AGENTS BUST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUB

The smell of burning marijuana wafted through the air as city leaders
protested outside a speech by the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
hours after federal agents raided a medical marijuana club and arrested
four people.

DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson also faced a tough crowd inside the
Commonwealth Club of California, where people shouted "Liar!" during his
speech, in which he said that "science has told us so far there is no
medical benefit for smoking marijuana."

"We will protest until this kind of nonsense from Washington, D.C. stops,"
promised Chris Daly, one of four city supervisors who appeared before the
cheering crowd.

Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano went one step further, calling
the DEA an "obnoxious, grandstanding" agency. "I don't want somebody in my
house that's not invited!" Ammiano shouted as demonstrators blew kazoos and
chanted "Go away D-E-A."

Tuesday's raid intensifies a tug of war between local and federal officials
over the sale of pot for medicinal purposes. District Attorney Terence
Hallinan has been outspoken in his support of the clubs, and Police Chief
Fred Lau has said his officers wouldn't take part in any raids. City
leaders declared San Francisco a sanctuary for medical cannabis use last year.

"This is a decision to be made by the voters of California and the people
of the city and county of San Francisco," Hallinan said through a bullhorn
outside the Commonwealth Club.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized more than 600 pot plants from
the Harm Reduction Center and arrested the group's executive director,
Richard Watts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kenneth Hayes of Petaluma was arrested in Canada and Edward Rosenthal of
Oakland was also arrested. They face charges of cultivating more than 100
pot plants and maintaining a place to grow them, according to federal
documents. Each faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Hayes also
operates the club, and Rosenthal supplies him with marijuana, the documents
said.

A fourth man, James Halloran, of Oakland, was arrested in a separate case,
and charged with growing more than 1,000 marijuana plants and keeping a
place to grow them. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Hutchinson later criticized the legalization of marijuana for medicinal
uses. Voters in California, Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Nevada,
Oregon and Washington approved ballot initiatives allowing medical
marijuana. In Hawaii, the Legislature passed a similar law and the governor
signed it in 2000.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court, deferring to Congress, said last year that
it is illegal to distribute marijuana for medical purposes.

"We have to enforce the law," Hutchinson said. He pointed out that opium
was once legal but got out of control in Chinatown in the 1880s, prompting
the city to pass the first anti-drug law in the United States.

"Enforcement of drug laws started here in San Francisco, they should not
end here," he said.

DEA spokesman Richard Meyer said the Customs Service and Internal Revenue
Service had joined its investigation, targeting marijuana trafficking and
smuggling.

"They all are connected with marijuana smuggling," Meyer said. "We've said
all along the cultivation and distribution of marijuana is illegal
regardless of state or local law."

Workers at the pot club raided Tuesday said they were questioned by DEA
agents about their relationship with Hallinan.

"They asked us if he was receiving monies from us or drugs," said David
Witty, the marijuana club's chief of security. "This is insane. What kind
of city do you think we're operating here, to think that we're smugglers or
involved in some other criminal activity?"

The center serves about 200 patients a day, all with doctors'
recommendations to get the drug. Many suffer chronic pain from AIDS and
cancer, Witty said.

Tuesday's raid is just one in a series of recent federal crackdowns in
California. Agents shut down a West Hollywood cannabis club in October.
Other federal actions include raiding a Ventura County garden operated by
patients, and seizure of medical records from a Northern California doctor
who is a prominent medical marijuana proponent.

Tuesday's raid coincided with President Bush's announcement of a stepped-up
war on drugs, with a goal of cutting drug abuse by 25 percent in five
years, in part through improved law enforcement.

The White House also launched an anti-drug advertising campaign, broadcast
first during the Super Bowl, with the message that money used to buy drugs
may benefit terrorists.